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The holiday which takes place on the first Monday immediately preceding 25 May has had several names: Victoria Day, the Queen’s Birthday, Empire Day, Commonwealth Day, fête de Dollard, fête de Dollard et de Chénier and Journée nationale des patriotes. This day is at the heart of a conflict between representations and memories. For most people, it represents the arrival of sunny days. (See also National Holidays.)
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The National Policy was a central economic and political strategy of the Conservative Party under Prime Minister John A. Macdonald, and many of his successors in high office. It meant that from 1878 until the Second World War, Canada levied high tariffs on foreign imported goods, to shield Canadian manufacturers from American competition.
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The National Policy was a protectionist policy. It was a main focus of the Conservative Party for decades. It began under Prime Minister John A. Macdonald. It continued under many of his successors. Under the policy, Canada imposed high tariffs (taxes) on imported goods. This shielded manufacturers in Canada from US competition. The policy was in effect from 1878 until the Second World War. This article is a plain-language summary of the National Policy. If you would like to read about this topic in more depth, please see our full-length entry: National Policy.
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The National War Labour Board was established in 1941 with 5 regional boards to enforce the Canadian government's program of wage stabilization in the volatile wartime economy. The first chairman was Humphrey MITCHELL, later minister of labour.
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New Brunswick became one of the founding members of the Dominion of Canada on 1 July 1867 when it joined Nova Scotia, Ontario and Quebec in Confederation. Arthur Hamilton Gordon, the lieutenant-governor of New Brunswick, helped organize the Charlottetown Conference (1–9 September 1864), where a federal union of British North American colonies was first discussed. By 1865, however, a majority in the New Brunswick legislature had swung against it. Albert Smith defeated pro-Confederation premier Samuel Tilley in a snap election that year. But the Fenian Raids in 1866 fueled New Brunswick’s sense of insecurity and increased support for Confederation. After Tilley’s party won another election in 1866, the legislature voted 38–1 in favour of Confederation.
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The history of France as a colonial power in North America began during the 16th century, during the era of European exploration and fishing expeditions. At its peak, the French colony of New France stretched over a vast area from the Gulf of St. Lawrence to Louisiana. The French presence was characterized by extensive trade, as well as by recurrent conflicts with the Indigenous peoples, who were established over a wide area that France sought to appropriate. Some objectives motivating the French colonization were related to evangelization and settlement. Following the British Conquest, New France was ceded to Great Britain in 1763 and became a British colony. (See Treaty of Paris 1763.) (This article is the full version of the text regarding New France. For a plain-language summary, please see New France (Plain Language Summary).)
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Macleans
Howard Mann laughed as he threw himself into the fresh snow.This article was originally published in Maclean's Magazine on January 10, 2000
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Attempts to bring Newfoundland into Confederation in the 1860s and 1890s were met with lukewarm interest in the colony. In 1934, Newfoundland was in bankruptcy during the Great Depression. It suspended responsible government and accepted an unelected Commission Government directed by Britain. In a 1948 referendum, Newfoundlanders were given the choice to either continue with the Commission Government, join Canada, or seek a return to responsible government as an independent dominion. The independence option won the first vote. But the Confederation option won a run-off vote with 52.3 percent support. The British and Canadian parliaments approved of the union. Newfoundland became Canada’s 10th province on 31 March 1949. In 2001, the province’s name was officially changed to Newfoundland and Labrador.
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Macleans
This article was originally published in Maclean’s magazine on June 23, 1997. Partner content is not updated. These days, the classrooms and corridors of Matthew Elementary School in Bonavista, Nfld., are like a shrine to John Cabot.
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Editorial
The following article is an editorial written by The Canadian Encyclopedia staff. Editorials are not usually updated. When the Parliament Buildings in Ottawa were repaired after a fire during the First World War, stone plaques were erected over the entrance to the Peace Tower. There were ten of them — nine bearing the coats of arms of the provinces and one left bare, to await the day when Newfoundlandjoined Canada.
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Although between 1946 and 1954 an estimated 49 communities were abandoned without government assistance, in 1953 the Newfoundland Department of Welfare began a centralized program in response to a perceived need to assist and accelerate the process.
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On the west (Canadian) side of the river, across from Fort Niagara, stand FORT GEORGE, FORT MISSISSAUGA and Butler's Barracks, all under the auspices of PARKS CANADA.
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The Niagara Purchase of 1781, also known as Treaty 381, was one of the first land agreements between Indigenous peoples and British authorities in Upper Canada (later Ontario). It resulted in a six-and-a-half kilometre-wide strip along the west bank of the Niagara River, which connects Lake Erie and Lake Ontario, being made available for settlement by Loyalists who were displaced by the American Revolution. The Niagara Purchase was one of many agreements made in the 1700s and 1800s, which are collectively known as the Upper Canada Land Surrenders.
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In March 1884, imperial entanglements resulted in British General Gordon becoming trapped in Khartoum, Sudan. When British General Wolseley was ordered to rescue Gordon, he requested approximately 300 Canadian boatmen for the expedition. Known as the “Nile Voyageurs,” these men handled wooden whaling boats that transported troops up the Nile River to Khartoum. The Nile Expedition (14 September 1884 to 17 April 1885) was the first time Canadians were involved in an international military mission.
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Since 2014, Niobe Day has been celebrated every year on 21 October by the Royal Canadian Navy. It commemorates the entrance of HMCS Niobe, one of Canada’s first two warships, into Halifax Harbour on 21 October 1910. Niobe, which had been purchased from Britain, was the first Canadian warship to enter Canadian territorial waters. Before 2014, the Canadian navy marked Trafalgar Day every 21 October in commemoration of the British victory at the Battle of Trafalgar (1805).
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